Drinks drama: River Oaks wine bar is closing down to make way for . . . a different wine bar in same locale

River Oaks wine bar is closing down to make way for different wine bar

The Tasting Room will close its River Oaks location in mid-November.
Leeah Sheridan

Lasco Enterprises has sold the lease on the space that currently houses the River Oaks location of The Tasting Room. Citing the property's small size compared to the locations in Kingwood, Uptown Park and CityCentre as being incompatible with its vision for the wine bar concept's future, the company has decided to move on.

Although this location is closing, Lasco has plans to expand both its Flow juice bar and Max's Wine Dive concepts in Houston. Chief brand officer Jonathan Horowitz tells CultureMap in an email that the company is looking at locations on the west side of Houston and in The Woodlands for new Max's. The restaurant has already moved beyond Texas with locations in Atlanta and Chicago; a Denver location is slated for 2015.

Horowitz confirms that the Kingwood Tasting Room is still on the market, but says that "it's doing quite well."

Horowitz confirms that the Kingwood location of The Tasting Room is still on the market, but says that "it's doing quite well and it would take the perfect opportunity and deal for us to let it go at this point."

In the meantime, the company has rolled out a new menu at The Tasting Room's CityCentre location and will do so at its Uptown Park Tasting Room by the end of the year. Renovations at Uptown Park will include the kitchen and other decor tweaks.

A new wine bar, unaffiliated with Lasco, will open after The Tasting Room closes in mid-November.